Telehealth Preferences Among Patients With Advanced Cancer in the Post COVID-19 Vaccine Era.
J Pain Symptom Manage
; 67(6): 525-534.e1, 2024 Jun.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38467349
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Few studies have examined patient preferences for telehealth in palliative care after the availability of COVID-19 vaccines. We examined patient preferences for video versus in-person visits and factors contributing to preferences in the postvaccine era.METHODS:
This is a cross-sectional survey of patients who were seen at our palliative care clinic between April 2021 and March 2022. Patients were surveyed directly their preference for either video or in-person visits for outpatient palliative care (primary outcome). We also surveyed preferences including convenience, cost, wait time, and perceptions of COVID-19 safety regarding their palliative virtual-video visit. We examined clinical factors associated with preferences with multivariate logistic regression.RESULTS:
About 200 patients completed the survey. 132 (67%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 60%, 74%) preferred virtual-video, while 16 (8%) preferred in-person visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 120 (61%, 95%CI 54%, 68%) preferred virtual-video after the pandemic. Patients perceived virtual-video favorably regarding travel and related costs (179 [91%]), convenience (175 [88%]), and wait time (136 [69%]). Multivariable analysis showed concerns for catching COVID-19 from healthcare providers (odds ratio [OR] 4.20; 95%CI 1.24-14.25; P = 0.02) and feeling comfortable with computers or mobile devices (OR 4.59; 95%CI 1.02, 20.60; P = 0.047) were significantly associated with preferring virtual-video. Patients who were of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (OR 0.25; 95%CI 0.09, 0.71) and had increased dypsnea (OR 0.74; 95%CI 0.59, 0.93) were less likely to prefer video over in-person.CONCLUSION:
Patients expressed strong preference for video over in-person visits in the outpatient palliative care setting.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Palliative Care
/
Telemedicine
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Patient Preference
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COVID-19
/
Neoplasms
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
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Aged80
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Female
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Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
J Pain Symptom Manage
Journal subject:
NEUROLOGIA
/
PSICOFISIOLOGIA
/
TERAPEUTICA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Country of publication: